Crash
by the.goal.is.greatness
Summary: You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you. [Neji x Ino] [Naruto x Hinata, Lee x Sakura, Konohamaru x Hanabi]
1. Chapter 01 Crash

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 1,185  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

Neji blinked slowly. He opened his mouth. Closed it. And blinked again. "What did you say?" He asked, when he finally found his voice.

Hiashi frowned at the boy, now a young man really, and repeated himself. "You need to get married."

Neji arched one slim brow at his uncle, even though internally he was seething. "Care to explain this… news?"

His uncle's frown deepened. "You are twenty years old and a jounin. And you. Need. To. Get. Married." He made to leave but paused when Neji opened his mouth again. "Are you deaf? Or simply incapable of finding a suitable woman?"

Affronted, Neji said, "Of course I could find – "

"Good. Because I am being remarkably lenient with you. Anyone from a Clan. Not too difficult for a supposed genius, yes?"

"How do you expect – "

"It is not a difficult thing to do." He paused and stared at his nephew, fighting with himself as to whether he should remain cold and impassive or offer some out of character advice. "You will just know, Neji. It will hit you. Now. Go. Find. A. Wife."

As Neji walked away from the Hyuuga Clan complex, his fists clenched in anger. This was ridiculous! After his twentieth birthday a month ago, his uncle had been relentless. Now, it would seem, he would be _forced_ to take a wife. Main House pulling rank again, he supposed.

At least he was allowed to marry outline the Clan-line. Hiashi seemed remarkably pleased (at least, Neji _thought_ he was pleased) at the fact that _Hinata_ was marrying the Hokage. Whoo-hoo. What Hyuuga in his right mind would want to be related to that hyperactive, ramen-inhaling fur ball?

_I don't know why this is suddenly a problem. I'm __Branch House_. His lip curled even as he thought it. _It's not like they need me to – _

He grunted as something slammed into him at a thousand miles per hour, practically knocking him to the ground. "What – " he questioned, glancing around the Konoha marketplace he vaguely remembered walking into.

"Sakura… boyfriend… crazy…" The person panted in front of him. someone in the background called out something Neji didn't understand, put the person in front him apparently did, because their head shot up in horror. Neji caught a lightning quick glance of wide, blue eyes, before his hand was grabbed; he was spun around, and then pulled off.

"Hey." He slowed, disentangling his fingers from his kidnapper. And then he heard something that made his blood run cold.

"My eternal rival Neji! The power of youth has brought us –"

The Hyuuga didn't hear the red, since he had already bolted off beside his would-be kidnapper. _I don't have __time__ for his!_ Somewhere in the background, a shouted, 'yosh' was heard.

"Sakura… gave him… sugar…" His fleeing partner said.

Neji held back a shiver. Lee on sugar was like Gai on sugar. And Gai on sugar was like Naruto, only like, a thousand times worse. Suddenly, he was yanked sideways and slammed into a wall. He opened his mouth to protest, but a hand suddenly covered it, and a body pressed into his. Two sets of eyes darted to the entrance of the alleyway they were now hiding in and both heaved sighs of relief as a green blur raced by. The person stepped back and Neji finally caught a good look at their face. He arched a brow in surprise. "Ino?"

She turned around from where she had been glancing around the corner at the fleeing Rock Lee. "Neji," she echoed in a matching tone.

He tried to unobtrusively observe her in the dim alleyway. He didn't see much of the rival of his teammate's girlfriend. He knew who she was, of course. Had seen her fight in the Chounin exams twice, before he applies to be jounin and passed her in rank. But he'd never actually paid attention to her.

She'd cut her hair, he noticed. It was shoulder-blade length now, and perfectly straight, and unbound. Shining a healthy sunflower gold. Her eyes shone, too. Like twin pools of water.

"- doing in town?"

"Hm?" Neji glanced at her, hoping she didn't notice he hadn't been paying attention because he was distracted by her curves.

She rolled her eyes. "Never mind." She gave the street another glance. "I think it's safe now." She sighed, blowing her bangs up. "Stupid Forehead, volunteering me to train with that lunatic while she's on a mission." She peered over her shoulder, sending him a saucy wink. "Catch ya later."

Neji watched her walk back into the marketplace. His brow furrowed. Had he ever spoken to her before this? Not that Neji actually spoke much at all, but still… He'd seen her fight in two Exams. And heard her name dropped in a few conversations. But he's never… spoken to her. And he'd certainly never realized how beautiful she was.

_It'll hit me, huh?_ He smirked. _I don't think Hiashi-sama meant to be so literal, but she __did__ almost barrel me into the ground. And she's from a Clan,_ he told himself, walking into the market and following the not-too-far-off blonde head of hair.

_So she's from a Clan_, he told himself as he walked after her, mentally tallying up the things he would tell his uncle. _And is a jounin. Took some medical training under Sakura. Is working for Ibiki-san now. And she's… beautiful. And curvy_, he continued, not realizing he was now completely off track. _And has really long legs_. His eyes glazed over, so it was really no surprise when he walked right into the person he was walking after.

"Neji?" She asked as she turned around.

He opened his mouth to tell her… what? Marry me? Come to the Hyuuga Complex so I can okay you with my uncle. _Then_ marry me. That would go over well. So what he wound up saying instead was, "Train with me."

She arched a brown. "Are you ill? From what I've gathered from Lee, this would be considered… abnormal for you."

"Train with me," he repeated.

"I mean, _sure_ it's better than training with Lee, who's insane. But at least he _speaks_."

When she turned to go, Neji's arm moved before he make the conscious decision to, and his hand latched onto her wrist. Surprising himself again, he leaned down and brushed his lips across her cheek, as chivalrous as a prince. Leaning up to whisper in her ear, he repeated himself again. "Train with me."

When he pulled back, he noticed with that egotistical male pride that all men possessed that she was blushing. "O-okay." He smirked as she took his hand and pulled him off to the training fields.

He should have let her run him over a long time ago.


	2. Chapter 02 Asking Out

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 1,054  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

Ino was more than a little confused. Hell, she was more than a _lot_ confused. She'd like to see anyone in her shoes that wouldn't be with the past two weeks being… well, how'd they'd been.

First, the tenuous relationship with her frienemy had taken a sudden downward spiraling leap towards 'enemy' when said 'friend' had released her neurotic, training-crazy, youth-obsessed boyfriend on her. Then she crashed into the brick wall of muscle that was Hyuuga Neji and rudely dragged him through Konoha's marketplace. Ignoring the small favor that was the arrogant genius' non-attacking of her person, she resigned to spend the time until Sakura returned playing hide-and-seek with an enthusiastic Green Beast. When lo and behold, Mr. High-and-Mighty, I-always-have-a-stick-up-my-ass Neji offers to train with her (well, more like demanded, but whatever).

…

What the hell?!

Now, don't get her wrong, Neji was an attractive guy. An eleven on a scale of one to ten, God's gift to woman, a Grade A piece of beef cake, but geez. She's maybe spoken to him… twice? She could count the number of times she's been in his presence for more than five minutes on one hand with fingers to spare. As flattered as she was that he knew her name (hell _Sasuke_ barely called her by her name and shew as practically glued to his hip when they were younger), she honestly couldn't fathom why he'd want to train with her.

A.) It was most definitely not her looks. Ino was pretty, but Neji was as aloof and cold as Sasuke, and if the Uchiha didn't think she was pretty, chances were neither did Neji. B.) Ino's attacks were more long distance (unless you counted her feminine wiles, which, she was pretty sure, Neji didn't). Neji's attacks were more in your face. So from a strictly strategic standpoint, training with her was rather useless. She could trap him with her Mind Transfer and totally win, but his three hundred and sixty degree vision kind of canceled out any chances she had of doing that. And C.) Well… they never spoke! She got one gloatingly raised eyebrow when Lee had defeated Chouji in their second Chounin Exams, to which she had replied, "Piss off." And once in the hall at the Academy, he had handed her a pencil, with a, "Here." And, uh, yeah, that was pretty much it.

So why he agreed to train with him was completely beyond her own comprehension. Still, it was exciting to spar without using any bloodline limits, one of the two rules they had made. The other being: not the hair. (Hey, they had nice hair.) They wandered back into town several hours later tired, sweaty, and pleased. Ignoring the (many) raised eyebrows tossed in their direction, they parted ways, Ino mentioning that they should do it again sometime.

Which is where her two-week 'Strange-Fest' continued. After that, for a boy Ino hardly ever saw… _ever_… he was everywhere! Where she bought her food, where she got her weapons sharpened, she _distinctly_ saw him pass by the flower shop at least twice a day, hell, she even saw him at the salon where she bought her hair supplies. All accidental, he assured her. "We're out of milk." "Tenten mentioned I needed to replace my kunai." "I could not decide what flowers to get Hinata-sama for her anniversary." "This is where I buy my shampoo."

Pfft. Inoo might be blonde, but she wasn't stupid. Hadn't she stalked Sasuke for years?

She finally got so fed up that she told him she'd train with him every few days ("Promise!") if he'd stop shadowing her every move.

Hence, her confusion. How did, "Enemy unleashing her beau on her" turn into "Said beau's teammate suddenly glues his face to hers?"

Ino was no stranger to kissing. She'd kissed Sasuke. Once. Before he'd beat the shit out of her. She'd kissed Shikamaru, and then decided to just let Temari have the lazy bastard. She dated Kankuro for almost eight months. No, Yamanaka Ino was no fool when it came to kissing. But what to do with teeth and lips and tongues and noses failed to explain _why_ was Hyuuga Neji currently trying to eat her face?"

With a gasp, she turned her head sideways, panting harshly, and gazing at him warily. His pale eyes were filled with… something.

"Be my girlfriend."

She blinked. "What?"

He leaned down, causing her to lean back, though the tree directly behind her was most unyielding. "Be my girlfriend."

One: didn't this guy know how to use question marks? "_Will_ you train with me?" "_Will_ you go out with me?" And two:… _what?!_

Ino wasn't a shinobi for nothing, she could smell a lie (or at least sense it, or she hoped she could), but the emphatic readings of someone's emotions and motives was more Hinata's forte. Sometimes Naruto's, but definitely not hers. And she didn't know Neji all that well. Sure, she knew the important things. But what was his favorite color? How in the hell did he get his hair so soft? What did he do for fun? Why did he smell like spices? (Not that she noticed.)

She spent so much time gallivanting around Sasuke it was easy for her to read the emotions in his dark eyes. She didn't know how to read the Hyuuga genius' pale lavender ords. She only knew they were gleaming and kind of pretty. But that could mean half-a-dozen things. (Well, not the pretty part. The gleaming. The prettiness just had to do with genetics, she supposed."

"Ino?"

She snapped back to reality when he softly spoken name was followed by a languid kiss on the side of her neck. She sighed.

Ah hell, who was she kidding? A strong, handsome guy with nice arms and sexy shoulders (they were kind of her weakness) was leaving a trail of kisses from her neck to her mouth and asking (telling) her to date him. What was her malfunction?

"Okay."


	3. Chapter 03 Fireflies and Kisses

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 2,046  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

He was really rather shocked at first, that she had decided to date him at all. I mean sure, he was a genius… an extremely good-looking genius… an extremely good-looking genius that knew a thing or ten about kisses (and this wasn't his ego talking, it was common knowledge). But they had really only known each other for a few weeks. Known _of_ each other for several years. But downright knew each other? Hardly.

Either Ino was really desperate for some attention or he could kiss better than he thought. Though his kisses had certainly never made Tenten turn into a pile of feminine putty in his hands. Pity, that would have saved him some injuries.

Whichever reason it was (his brain was voting for clingy female emotions and his ego was leaning towards his handsome face), she had said yes.

Now, whether it was the Fates laughing at him from their Heavenly perch or it was simply bad timing on his part, Neji found (to his utmost horror) that the dreaded Valentine's Day was a few weeks away. And this was definitely not a good thing.

From what he remembered about the holiday from his younger years, it was an important holiday for couples and for females in general. Neji really wouldn't know, since he was hardly ever _in_ Konoha during that particular week in February. His own pack of fangirls had gained some new, downright rabid recruits when Sasuke left, and they were all particularly vicious on Valentine's Day. So that week was normally pack full of long, difficult, far-away missions.

He supposed he wouldn't be able to do that now.

And loath as he was to admit it, he had no idea what to do in this situation. Tenten and his relationship didn't last long enough to hit the bloody holiday. He tried to think of something, he really did. But how was he supposed to know what to get for a girl. Everything he assumed would be a good gift was either practical or dangerous. And he doubted either of those qualities would be even more remotely acceptable for this particular holiday.

And though his pride was waving a bright, neon-flashing sign at him, he realized that he, the prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan, would have to ask for help.

The only problem was that he knew very few people that he: one, knew well enough to ask such a personal (for Neji) question and two, he knew he would get good advice from. And he knew only one person who even _remotely_ matched those two criteria.

* * *

"Neji?"

The Hyuuga forced himself not to grit his teeth. "Naruto," he greeted.

The Kyuubi-holder blinked once, slowly, and glanced around his office. "Is there something I should know about? Some attack or something? You never come here… well… voluntarily…"

Neji glanced away and muttered something under his breath. And then immediately regretted it as he realized that, along with whiskers and a vast amount of chakra, the Kyuubi had gifted Naruto with the ability to hear extremely well.

While Neji waited for the young Hokage to cease his incessant laughter, he realized that he had grown more comfortable in the younger man's presence. His cousin was planning on marrying the blond early next month and yet Naruto seemed unperturbed by his wedding's imminent approach. Neji hoped Naruto wasn't moving into the Hyuuga Clan complex, though with Hinata's position as heir of the Clan, he'd probably spend a lot of time there anyway. _Great_.

"-vice?"

Neji blinked, realizing he had missed everything Naruto had said. "What?"

Wiping a tear from his eye and still sporting a large grin, he repeated himself. "I _said_ the first time you ask me to help and it's relationship advice?"

Neji scowled. _Yes, I have hit an all-time low_. "Naruto…" he growled in warning.

"Eh? Oh, yeah. First of all, you do know that Valentine's Day is tomorrow, right?" Neji glared at him. "Okay, okay, geez… Umm… Let's see… Well, Hinata-chan likes it when I buy her flowers, why don't you do that?"

One fine brow arched. "You are away that I'm dating someone whose family owns a flower shop, yes?"

The grin faded. "Oh yeah. "Well… what about chocolate or candies or something?"

"Ino hardly eats as it is, some kind of diet. A female thing, I presume."

Naruto frowned and started to chew on one of his fingernails as he thought about it. "Well, what kinds of things does she like? Do you even know?"

Neji looked affronted. "Of course I know!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Then why are you asking me for this? All the ideas I have would be good for Hinata-chan, but Ino-chan isn't like her. Go do something she'll like if you know so much about her."

And then Neji did something unexpected. He gaped at the Hokage, mouth slightly open, in an expression of pure shock. "But I don't – "

"Nope!" Naruto grinned at his best jounin cheekily. "Hokage's orders. Think of it as a mission. Now I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, I have my own problems." And he pulled out one of the largest books Neji had ever seen. "Wedding plans," Naruto explained at Neji's glance. "Now, git!"

The Hyuuga sputtered, but left in a huff. He wasn't pouting. Hyuuga geniuses don't pout. He was… frowning in a more polite manner. Yeah… that's it. Pfft.

But now he had asked for help for nothing. What was he supposed to do now that –

"Neji!"

Turning, he instinctively wrapped his arms around his girlfriend as she ran up and hugged him. _My__ girlfriend_, he thought. _My girlfriend._ He realized that Naruto was right. Leaning down, he kissed her swiftly on the lips, before disentangling her arms from around his neck and her fingers from his hair. She frowned at him lightly. "I have something important to do," he explained.

"A mission?" She nodded her head in the direction of Hokage Tower, which she must have seen Neji just leave from.

He smirked. "Something like that."

She shrugged. "Alright. I'll see you later then," she said, standing up a little on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

Neji watched her walk away for a moment, before turning in the opposite direction. _I __do__ know what I can do for Valentine's Day_. Now he just had to figure out how to do it.

* * *

"Keep your eyes closed," he instructed as he held one of Ino's hands and led her towards his Valentine's Day present. He had saved the best for last. When he met her that morning, he had given her flowers, it seemed like a customary thing for the holiday, even though she could get them whenever she wanted. She had seemed to like them well enough, placing them in a vase before following him to the training grounds (it was their training day, holiday or no). But this was his real present.

"Neji, where are we going?" She asked, though she kept her eyes dutifully closed.

"We're almost there… Here we are." He tugged her forward a few more steps and pulled her around to stand in front of him. Once his hands were wrapped around her hips, he whispered, "Open your eyes."

Sliding her blue eyes open, she gasped.

Neji had brought her outside Konoha's gates to a meadow she had never seen before. The flowers had been sweet, the sight of Hyuuga Neji with a bouquet overriding the fact that her family owned a flower shop. After they spar, he had brushed out her hair. Why, she had no idea, but it had been soothing. But this…

It was dusk now, and growing darker by the second; Valentine's Day was almost over. But the meadow was aglow with moonlight, the silver beams reflecting off the large puddle of water left over from last week's rainstorm. And there were fireflies everywhere.

"Neji… It's…

"You said you thought fireflies were pretty," he explained. "And some of the books said this was the best spot in all of Konoha to see them." He was silent for a moment. "Do you like it?" He asked, wondering why he felt so ridiculously nervous. He didn't even feel this strung out during a fight. The insanely churning flock of butterflies in his stomach was a stark contrast to his almost non-existent breathing.

"Neji… it's beautiful."

He sighed almost inaudibly and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"How on earth did you remember that I said that, it was weeks ago and I only mentioned it for like a second," she said, her eyes reflecting the glimmering fireflies all around them.

"You said it, so I remembered it."

"Neji," she said again, turning in his embrace so she could press her lips to his. She felt his hands run up her sides and over her shoulders, but thought nothing of it. Until she felt something cool suddenly appear around her neck and Neji pulled away. "What…"

"It's the symbol for firefly," he explained as she fiddled with the silver chain around her neck and the kanji symbol dangling from it. "Hotaru."

She was smiling, Neji noticed. Not a big mega-watt grin or a flirty, coy smile, just the smallest tilting of her lips as she stared at the necklace and charm. And for some reason, Neji found the fact that she was pleased with his gift made him happier than he could ever remember from giving someone something. He vaguely wondered I he had been dating during other Valentine's Days if he would have put this much thought and effort (hey, he spent almost the entire day at the library yesterday looking for somewhere to see fireflies, until he got fed up and asked Shino, though, he wasn't going to tell Ino that) into those gifts. He realized he probably wouldn't have.

There was something… special about Ino. Something about the way she carried herself. Sure, most of the kunoichi he knew, with the exception of Hinata, were strong-willed, outgoing, out-_spoken_ women. But there was a different sort of grace in Ino's way of fighting; a rhythm in the way she walked and talked that was different from the other girls. She was always so confident and carefree and flirty and beautiful and… kissing his neck.

"Mmmm…" He moaned appreciatively, before letting his forehead drop onto her shoulder and pulling her closer. "So you like it?"

She pulled back just enough so that she could tilt her head sideways and see his face. "I've never gotten anything like this for Valentine's Day before."

After the brief (strange) flash of jealousy he felt for other men giving her gifts, he felt an odd panic that he had done something wrong.

She seemed to sense his unease, because she continued. "I love it." He relaxed against her. She tilted her head towards him until they were pressed together cheek to cheek. "Of the very few people I have ever dated, you are by far, the greatest boyfriend I have ever had."

Neji sighed raggedly into her neck, trying to hide the strange feelings swimming in his stomach. He was angry that there were others before him. He was proud he was the best. And he was pissed beyond belief at the thought that their might be others after him. Why he felt like this after a few short weeks, he didn't know, though most of the couples he knew had suddenly fallen for each other. Hinata knew the moment she saw Naruto. Lee knew the first time he laid eyes on Sakura.

Whatever the reason, Neji was going to make damned sure that this time next year, it was him pulling Ino close, him that was kissing Ino until neither of them could breathe, and him that was trailing kisses down the smooth column of her throat.

Valentine's Day wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.


	4. Chapter 04 Meet the Parents

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 2,373  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

Ino was staring at the paper in her hand with something akin to absolute and utter horror, eyes wide and jaws slack, before he gaze switched to the matching paper in her boyfriend's hands and the matching expression of partial terror, partial anger, and she paled even further. "I… I…"

"I am going to _kill_ Naruto."

Ino glanced away from the seemingly innocent sheets of paper and up at Neji's face. She suddenly felt better knowing that she wasn't the only one upset by this… announcement.

Gazing back down, her eyes read over the graceful character of Hyuuga Hinata's handwriting, announcing that Ino was invited to her wedding. That, however, wasn't the problem. Nor was the problem the fact that the wedding was next week, after all, Ino didn't have to travel far to get there. The Hyuuga complex was like, twenty minutes away. No, the problem was the fact that at the bottom of the invitation, in a messy scrawl in complete opposition to his fiancé's neat script, Naruto had scribbled his own message.

_You better bring Neji as your date Ino-change! Hokage's orders!_

And then there was a childish drawing of what Ino assumed was him flashing the victory sign.

She had actually met Neji halfway between her house and his. And from his murderous expression, she could only assume his invitation boasted a similar P.S. from their dear, hyperactive Hokage.

And it wasn't the fact that they had to go together that was the problem, really. They had planned to go together anyway. Just not so… openly. Only the Rookie 9 and Neji's teammates knew they were dating at all. neji had never one to be open about his relationships in the first place and Ino simply didn't care. Besides, they'd only been dating for a little over a month. No need to be so prominent about it just yet.

But now Naruto had to go and meddle. It seemed to be his hobby. Apparently running the village was boring enough that he had plenty of time to dabble in the lives of everyone around him. Love lives included. And since they had now been commanded to attend the wedding as a couple (which there would be no getting out of since Neji _had_ to go and Naruto would, of course, see if Ino wasn't there) that meant only one thing.

Ino looked and met Neji's silver gaze.

"Parents."

* * *

Ino attempted no to fidget under the piercing stare of Neji's uncle.

Hyuuga Hiashi resembled Neji in many ways. They had the same long, dark hair and the same all-seeing, eerie, yet beautiful silver eyes. There was the same pride and arrogance in the way they carried themselves. There was even something similar in their chiseled features, the smooth nose, the strong chin, the graceful neck, and the thin lips. But Ino liked to think that Neji's face was softer than his stoic uncle's. Neji was never one to show much emotion either, but he seemed to frown less than Hiashi and, though she could not see it, she did not think his forehead bore the almost permanent crease than Hiashi's did.

"So you are the girl my nephew has finally chosen to date."

"Um… yes, sir," Ino answered respectfully. Though normally loud and outspoken (king of a lot like Naruto, but no one would ever say that to her face) she had been drilled in Clan etiquette since she was very small. And even if she hadn't been, who the hell wanted to piss off a Hyuuga, especially the head of the Clan? She needed her chakra. And she'd be damned if she would go to Sakura for help even if she did get into a mess. So it was better for everyone if she was just polite.

"Hm… Yamanaka Ino, correct?" She nodded, her fingers twitching on her knees, which were folded gracefully underneath her as she sat across the low table from him. "And you are a jounin?" She nodded again. "What sort of education have you have other than the standard shinobi training?" She opened her mouth to answer, but Neji beat her to it.

"Uncle, I fail to see why this interrogation is necessary. We are simply attending the wedding."

Hiashi turned to stare at his only nephew and arched one slim brow (Ino vaguely wondered if that's where Neji had picked this habit up from) and said nothing. Surprisingly Neji was silent and Ino realized she was missing something important. She decided to let it go… for now.

"Haruno Sakura taught me some medical jutsu, sir," Ino said, her gaze sliding from Neji beside her to the Clan leader across from her. "And I work part-time for Ibiki-san now." When he didn't say anything, she added, "But that's all."

"Hm." His eyes flickered between her and Neji for a moment, before he said, "Well, I see no reason why this should not work."

Ino glanced between the two when she Hiashi was speaking to Neji and only Neji. And she had a feeling about their impending date to Hinata and Naruto's wedding. She furrowed her brow in confusion as Hiashi rose, before rising as well and bowing to him.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Hiashi-sama," she said, still unsure about the weird vibes she felt generating between the two. Hiashi seemed calm… and somewhat amused at Neji's behavior. And Neji seemed irritated and miffed.

But then the spell was broken when Ino mumbled her farewell. Hiashi nodded at her. "And you as well, Yamanaka-san. I look forward to seeing more of you." Ino's confusion grew when she realized that comment was once again directed at Neji. He nodded, "Neji." And left.

For a second, they stood there in silence, before Ino rounded on him. "Okay, what the _hell_ was that about?"

Neji glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "What?"

"What? _What_?! Neji half the time he was saying things to _me_ he was looking at _you_! You can't tell me something's not up. I'm not stupid. Now, what the hell is going on?"

He paused for a second. "It's nothing. Come on, let's go meet your father."

Ino pouted, before realizing that Neji had left her in the Hyuuga complex and she hurried to catch up. "Oi! Wait for me! Don't change the subject! Hey!"

* * *

Needless to say, Ino did not, in fact, get any information out of Neji, and Neji was all the more happy to keep it that way. All his uncle's stupid hints at their deal had gotten Ino suspicious and asking questions. Not such a good thing for him, seeing as how it was all about his uncle's order to find himself a wife. He was sure Ino would take it in the worst possible way and never give him a chance to explain. She'd probably kick him in a place that rendered him incapable of reproducing. Or at the very least would cause him to need the most interesting medical examination ever. Neither of which he was too keen on being involved in.

But, for the moment, he was less concerned about that, and more concerned with the tall blond man glaring at him like he was the Kyuubi himself. If he had known Ino's father could be such a terrifying man, he would have insisted that their families all meet together. At least that way Ino's father would have been sufficiently distracted by asking questions of Neji's emotionless uncle and less inclined to stare so irritatingly at Neji himself.

He supposed it had something to do with the fact that Neji was only Hiashi's nephew and not his son. Kami knows how he had reacted when Naruto come a-courting for Hinata. He almost locked his oldest daughter in her room. Neji would hate to see him when he realized that almost everyone in town knew that Hanabi had a crush the size on Fire Country on Konohamaru. Well, everyone except for Hiashi… and possibly Konohamaru himself. And besides that, Hiashi had all but demanded that Neji find himself a wife. But Inoichi only had one child. And to him, Neji was corrupting his sweet, innocent, baby girl.

Neji leaned farther back as Inoichi leaned farther in, an appraising glare in his blue eyes, as he looked Neji up and down.

_I feel like a piece of meat_, he thought to himself, his eyes following Ino's father as the man walked in a circle around him. They hadn't even made it a step past the threshold before the jounin appeared out of nowhere and started examining Neji like he was prize farm animal. It was… unsettling. Ino could not have felt this uncomfortable with his uncle. All Hiashi had done was ask a few questions and unobtrusively poke fun at Neji and their deal.

And it didn't help the situation that Ino simply stood a few feet beside him, with one hand held over her eyes as she muttered under her breath. Neji was sure he heard some death threats mixed in with the mumbling.

Neji twitched as Inoichi stopped in front of him and leaned way too far into his personal space again. "So you're going to this… wedding, are you? How do I know it's not a lie? What if you're just trying to get my baby alone? Hm? Didn't think I'd know about that trick, did you?"

"Dad, you got an invitation to the _same_ wedding," Ino said exasperatedly.

He leaned back. "Oh yeah." He suddenly poked Neji in the chest. Hard. "Well, what do you do for a living? How much money do you make? Can you support a family?"

"Dad." When he glanced at his daughter, Ino silently pointed to the forehead protector clearly displayed on Neji's forehead. "He's a jounin." Then, as an afterthought, she added. "Duh."

"Right…" He turned his narrow-eyed glance back to Neji. "Well, what – "

"_Dad!_ Can you please stop grilling my boyfriend for like, five minutes! We get it, okay? You're very overprotective, so much that I think we're going to leave now. Geez. We're going on a date. That isn't even really a date, since the _entire village_ will be in the same place at the same time. It's not like we're getting married to each other or anything." She huffed angrily and crossed her arms.

"Well, why not?" Ignoring Ino's warily arched eyebrow; he turned back to Neji. "How do you feel about marriage? Do you want kids? I want grandchildren. Two or three would be a good number, don't you think? And could you – "

"For the love of _God_, dad! Fine! The next time I come to tell you something, I'll make sure I'm pregnant!" And then she turned and marched back off of the porch.

Both men stared after her for a moment, before Neji gathered his wits and bowed politely to the Clan head. "Yamanaka-sama," he murmured, before turning to leave.

"Neji." The young jounin paused, and turned back around… and shivered at the coldness in Inoichi's eyes. "Just to let you know, if you hurt my little girl or break her heart, not all the shinobi in Konoha could stop me from carving out your heart with a rusty spoon." And Neji gulped when he realized that there was no lie in those words. Then Inoichi grinned widely at the boy. "But I do want those grandkids."

Neji was still creeped out when he left the house, though he was pleasantly surprised when he found that Ino had not marched halfway across Konoha in her anger like he thought she had, and instead and waited for him at the end of the block. She glanced back at him when she heard him walk up and sighed. "Sorry about him," she said. "He gets a little… protective." She chuckled lightly. "When I brought Kankuro home once when he was visiting from Suna, dad said if he didn't visit me sooner he would bury him so deep under the sand even Kazekage-sama wouldn't be able to find him."

"… He threatened to carve out my heart with a rusty spoon."

Ino rolled her eyes as they started walking. "At least we can go to the wedding in relative peace now. Though you might have to endure several more of my dad's not so subtle hints at his desire for grandchildren."

"Yes, well…"

Ino stopped walking and glanced at him. "What? Do you not want children?" She never gave him a chance to answer, before she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. "I think… if I _do_ marry you, we should name our son after your father, kay?" And then she skipped away from him, giggling madly at the dumbfounded look on his face. Oh, how she loved to make the Hyuuga have emotions.

He felt an unfamiliar warmth bloom in his chest as he thought about it. A child. A son. A… He blanched suddenly as he realized exactly what he'd have to do to _get_ the aforementioned son. And then he remembered with startling clarity the thought he had a few months ago about how long Ino's legs were. He felt himself blush fire.

"Hey!" A familiar, parental voice shouted behind him. "If you're thinking perverted thoughts about my baby girl I'll kill you right now!"

And Hyuuga Neji realized that as terrifying as the thought of having a son was. As terrifying as the seal branded on his forehead was. As terrifying as every shinobi and missing-nin and Akatsuki member and Sound-ninja he had ever faced were. There was nothing, _nothing_, more terrifying than an overprotective father who happened to be a jounin and a head of one of the most deadly Clans in Konoha.

And he hurried (in a way that Naruto would have stupidly called "running away," but thankfully he wasn't there) to catch up to Ino.


	5. Chapter 05 Meet the Parents

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count: **2,711  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

She was going to _kill_ him. That horrible, lying, manipulative Hyuuga was going to be sorry he was ever born once she was through with him. Being a member of the Branch House was going to look like a vacation once this was over with.

"Oi! Sakura!"

The pink-haired kunoichi glanced up as Ino marched over to where she and Lee were just finishing their lunch. The blonde looked ready for battle. "Yes?" Sakura asked, flashing a wary-eyed glance at Lee before looking back at her long-time rival and short-time friend.

"Neji wants to borrow your boyfriend. Something about rivals and youth and whatnot. He's on the road to the Hyuuga Complex."

Those already big eyes widened and sparkled like insane stars. "YOSH! My eternal rival has finally gained some feelings of youthful training!" He struck a few awkward poses and suddenly ran off, a trail of dust in his wake.

After coughing momentarily Sakura said, "That doesn't seem like something Neji would say, Ino."

"He didn't," the blonde replied, plopping down in Lee's vacated seat and resting her head on her hands.

"Then why would you – "

Ino sighed. She really didn't want to talk about it. Just _thinking_ about it made her… so… freakin… angry! She sighed again, but suddenly perked up. Maybe Sakura would help her if she knew what that stupid jerk had done. Ino definitely wasn't opposed to having Sakura's inhuman strength on her side. "It all started this morning…"

* * *

They had been dating for almost a year, so it was of no surprise to anyone to see Ino at the Hyuuga complex waiting for her boyfriend (they had both decided that this was safer than Neji being seen near Ino's house, something they were both sure Inoichi would blow out of proportion). This morning, however, was a little different than man. Usually Ino only had to wait a moment or two for Neji, since he was always punctual.

Today, there seemed to be some sort of argument going on.

"He's just a no-good troublemaker, Hanabi."

"So is Naruto-sama!"

"Naruto-sama is the Hokage, Hanabi. He can be whatever he wants."

"You didn't think like that when he and Hinata nee-san were still genin. You said he was worthless and not good enough for sister. But the minute he becomes Hokage – "

"Be silent!"

The door slide open and Ino turned from where she sat on the porch, and watched Neji leave the house. He seemed amused. "Ino," he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

She tilted her head into his lips, but asked, "What's going on in there? I've never heard Hanabi raise her voice like that."

Sitting down on the steps beside her, he said, "Uncle found out about my young cousin's… infatuation with Konohamaru." He smirked as Ino started to laugh quietly. "Yes, you can imagine the great scene it caused. Uncle seems unwilling to admit how alike Konohamaru is to his son-in-law. Something Hanabi is somewhat irked about."

"Konohamaru wants to be Hokage, too!" The argument continued from inside. "And Naruto-sama said there's no reason he can't be! So why – "

"I will not argue about this Hanabi. You are too young and that is final."

"I'm fourteen, father! I can date if I want to!"

"I will not repeat myself, Hanabi."

"Ugh!" And the next thing the two on the porch heard was the door behind them being slammed open as Hanabi marched out. They didn't turn to look at her, but noticed when she paused in the doorway. "How come you want everyone to be happy but me, father? You let nee-san get married. And Neji isn't even your son and you told him to go find some Clan girl to be his wife."

Ino froze, but did notice that Neji whipped around, long hair flinging around him as he spun in his seat to face his cousin. "Hanabi!"

"What?" She scoffed. "Is this her, cousin? The girl father ordered you to marry? Pretty, isn't she? How long did – " She yelped when Neji suddenly stood and slapped her. Holding one hand to her cheek she gaped at him, before her gaze slid to her father. She opened her mouth, but let it slide closed when he shook his head and turned away. She turned back to her cousin, but he was already gone.

Ino was marching down the street back to Konoha, the liquid sting of tears in her eyes, the sharp twist of betrayal in her stomach.

"Wait! Ino! Ino, stop!" Neji grabbed her arm and she moved without thinking. For a moment, they stood without moving. Neji's head snapped to the side, his cheek already read, one of his hands on Ino's elbow. Ino stood, half-turned towards him, one arm still raised, eyes still filled with tears.

"Is it true?"

Neji flinched at the coldness in her voice. "I – "

"Did you uncle really order you to marry someone, and you just picked me?"

"No, I – "

"Is that all I am to you? _Some Clan girl_? Something the Main House ordered you to do?!" She wrenched her arm away from him and took a few steps back, away from him. She needed distance.

"I – that's not true. He did… tell me to find a wife… but… he let me choose… And I…. I chose you."

She was staring at him strangely. "I… don't know if I can believe you."

"Ino, I – " One arm reached out towards her, but she shook her head at him, blinking away the tears, and walked away.

Deep down, Neji knew that eventually she would have found out. He had simply hoped that it would be… you know, a long time from now. And not in the spiteful way Hanabi had told her. His youngest cousin had been so spoiled growing up. Hiashi had doted on her, since she was stronger and braver than Hinata, so she held all of his attention. And now that Hinata had come into her own, courtesy of the outgoing nature of her new husband, Hiashi had become less of a pushover when it came to his youngest child. And she was clearly not happy about it, if the bratty way she had acted earlier was any clue.

But sill, snooty brat or no, there had been no reason to take it out on Ino like that, when Hanabi knew for damn certain that Ino new nothing about the "deal" that Neji had with his uncle. And now… now she was angry with him.

And even though he would love to turn around and take out his anger on Hanabi (Hiashi and the Main House be damned), he would love even more to run after Ino, wrap her in his arms, and hold her until she forgave him, no matter how long that took.

Ino, meanwhile, was busy stomping her way angrily towards Konoha, muttering under her breath about uppity Hyuuga's and meddling younger siblings. And underneath it all, there was a harsh, uneasy feeling that… maybe he didn't care for her at all.

* * *

"He did _WHAT?!_"

Ino merely nodded as Sakura stood abruptly, upending her chair and slamming her hands down onto the table so hard hairline fractures formed on the smooth surface. "Yup."

The pink-haired young woman across from her frowned and turned her head to the side. "Hump. You should have told Lee that Neji was badmouthing Gai-sensei. _Training_ with Lee is one thing. _Fighting_ with him is another."

Ino gave a short bark of laughter, and opened her mouth to answer…

"Ino."

The two kunoichi turned at the soft growl of the blonde's name and two pairs of eyes widened when they saw Neji standing there. Sakura took her hands off the table and straightened as she glared at the Hyuuga. "What do you want?"

"Leave Sakura." The girl didn't move, so Neji turned the full-force of his eyes on her and Sakura took a step backwards when she realized his Byakugan was activated. "Now."

She glanced at Ino, still willing to fight for her friend, but when her friend nodded stiffly, she sent one last glare at Neji as he let his bloodline limit fade and left them there.

"Walk with me." He didn't give her a chance to argue with the command and instead grabbed her arm and led her away from the small café. "Sending Lee was a very rude thing you did."

"No ruder than anything _you've_ done!" Ino snapped at him.

He twitched at the venom in her words, but didn't dispute them. "Fair enough, but I wish you would give me a chance to explain?" His statement was really more of a question, as he stopped walking and looked at her.

She notice with vague disinterest that he had brought her to the field where they had first trained together. "What is there to explain, Neji? Your uncle commanded you to find a wife and there I was: poor, unsuspecting, Clan member. I understand, really, I do." Even a deaf man would have been able to hear the hurt in her voice. "But now I would like to never see you again." She furrowed her brows at him. "Can you understand that?"

"Ino! Listen to me!" Neji held her by the shoulders and shook her once very gently to be sure he had her attention. "Yes, my uncle did order me to find a wife. He did not tell me who to choose or where to look. He told me it would just hit me." He paused for a second. "And, if you recall, you did crash right into me that day."

Her eyes widened. "So you're dating me… because _I ran into you?!_" She tried to pull away from her, but he wouldn't let her go.

"I am dating you because I want to." She stopped struggling, but remained stiff in his arms. She stubbornly refused to look at him, and instead kept her gaze focused somewhere near their closely planted feet. "I am dating you because you are strong and brave." She felt the gentle touch of one of his cool hands on her chin. "And I am dating you…" His hand tilted her face upwards so she was forced to look at him, "because you are beautiful."

And even though she was still angry with him, she still blushed when she heard those words. "That doesn't make it right, Neji!"

"But, I – "

"No!" She wrenched out of his grasp and took a step away from him. "If your uncle hadn't told you to… _find a wife_… you wouldn't have given me a second thought! Don't try and deny it, Neji!"

"I – I – " But he couldn't say anything, because… she was right. Would he have noticed her if he hadn't been specifically looking for a wife, like his uncle had ordered? He doubted it. And then he never would have noticed how captivating she could be. He never would have known that she spent an hour on her hair every morning even though she knew it would get messed up later. He never would have known that she hated her ears (girls, honestly). He never would have known that she hated the taste of peanut butter or that she snorted when she laughed too hard. Or that she loved fireflies. Or that…

Or that he… he…

"Ino… wait…"

"That was honestly a lovely list of reason you're dating me, Neji. That list applies to every single one of the girls you went to school with. Strong, brave, beautiful. So what? You just described every kunoichi from now until the dawn of time. What makes – "

"I love you."

"And another thing, how – Wait… _what_?" She stared at him through shocked, blue eyes.

Neji himself seemed stunned at his outburst. His eyes had widened, and Ino could just make out the slightest shake in his normally still hands. He was staring at her like he had never seen her before.

"What did you say?" Ino ignored the way her voice wavered unsteadily at the end of her question.

"I… I… I love you." He let out his breath, a sound somewhat amusement, somewhat astonishment. "I love you," he repeated, more strongly this time. "I love the way it takes you twenty minutes to pick out an outfit. I love the way you zone out completely when you're working on a flower arrangement. I love the wrinkle you get between your eyes when you're angry." He took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck. "I'm sorry," he said into her skin. "I'm sorry… Forgive me… I'll do anything you ask… just… forgive me…"

Ino was dumbfounded. As a shinobi, she saw things that civilians couldn't imagine even in their deepest dreams. But this… Neji loved her? Neji _loved_ her? Neji loved _her_? Her eyes softened as she leaned her cheek against his head. How could stay angry after a speech like that? The person she should really be pissed at was Hiashi, that meddling, old Clan head. But Neji… all those thing he knew about her…

What did she do to deserve him? She had been such a bratty child. Always arguing with her parents. Pushing away her best friend over some boy. She was never nice to Naruto. Hell, she was even bitchy to her own teammates. And Neji, strong, silent, Neji, loved her? Neji was intelligent, a genius. Neji was strong enough to take on one of the Sound Four when he was thirteen and _win_. Neji was calm and she was too headstrong in battle. And Neji was… much too good for her.

"Neji…"

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I'll never keep anything from you ever again. Just don't… don't leave… I swear… I'll – "

"Neji," Ino repeated, stopping him. "Stop." He lifted his head in order to look at her, a sad, wary look in his eyes. "Begging doesn't suit you."

"Ino… my uncle… I – "

"Forget it, Neji." She glanced off to the side as she continued. "It's true, I'm still a little angry. But not at you, not anymore," she hurried to add when he opened his mouth. "At the risk of sounding like a teammate of mine, your uncle is troublesome." His mouth closed, but he looked hopeful. "And – "

And she had noticed that Neji's favorite shampoo smelled like jasmine. And that he slipped Akamaru dog biscuits when Hinata's teammates came to visit and he thought no one was looking. And she had noticed that Neji glanced vainly in ever mirror he passed. And the way his eyes shone with pride when he watched his oldest cousin.

"And I love you, too."

Neji's sharp intake of breath was her only warning before he straightened abruptly and his lips crashed down over hers. She gasped, and Neji took the opportunity to sweep his tongue through her mouth. Ino felt her knees turn to jelly and she fisted her hands in his shirt to keep from collapsing. Just as suddenly as he had claimed her mouth to begin with, Neji pulled away. "You mean it? Really?"

As Ino looked into his shining silver eyes, she wondered what she could have done in a past life to deserve him. She smiled. "Really. I love you."

Neji smiled, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. He leaned down and Ino let her eyes flutter closed and her chin tilt up towards him. But she felt the gentle brush of his lips, not on her mouth, but on first one closed eyelid, and then the other. And Ino heard the silent message in each fleeting brush of his lips. _I love you_. He kissed her nose. _I love you_. He kissed first one cheek, then the other. _I love you_. He kissed her chin. _I love you._ And finally, he kissed her mouth.

_I love you_.


	6. Chapter 06 Say Yes

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 2,807  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account. – Flashbacks are in italics.

* * *

He was nervous.

He had never been _this_ nervous before. Excluding, of course, that one time when he thought Hanabi had ruined everything and he thought that Ino was going to dump him. For the record though, that hadn't really been his fault. It had been Hanabi's fault. So that time didn't count. Nor did his numerous shinobi battles. Especially his fight with that spider-freak from the Sound Four. That hadn't been nervousness anyway. More like arrogance combined with sheer terror and oh-so-comforting "I'm gonna die" feeling. Oh how he loved that feeling. (Note the sarcasm.)

But now, now he felt like his stomach had tied itself in knots. And the swarm of butterflies currently residing there had tried to fly up his throat and out of his mouth. Lovely. His palms had, embarrassingly enough, started to sweat, and he could feel his fingers twitching with tense energy as one hand fiddled endlessly with something in his pocked.

This was worse than when he had asked out Ino just over a year ago. He pretty much knew she was going to agree to date him. I mean, honestly, who would turn down a date with _the_ Hyuuga Neji? No one, that's who. He wasn't one to brag (much), but Neji knew he could kiss. He could probably complete every mission ever given to him (S-class included) without bloodshed or injury if he could have a moment or two to kiss his opponent senseless. But, first of all, most of his opponents were male and Neji didn't swing that way, and two, where was the fun in a kissing a mission to completion? Nowhere, unless he was Jiraiya… or maybe Kakashi. Point was, it would really be run. For him.

So, anyway, he was fairly certain Ino would agree to go out with him. But this was a different sort of question all together. Even if she had only agreed to date him because he could kiss well (Kami he hoped not) dating wasn't a lifetime commitment, for goodness sake. You could decide to stop anytime you wanted to. It wasn't forever.

He ran a nervous hand through his long hair, clenching his other fist around the box in his pocket. How the hell did he manage to get himself into a mess like this?

Oh, yeah… He blamed Naruto. And whoever decided to name him Hokage.

* * *

_Ino was on a mission. So that meant Neji, who for once had some time off, had nothing to do. He could train, but (besides the fact that he usually did that with Ino these days before anyone else) Lee was out somewhere with Sakura. And he honestly had no idea where Tenten was. Some teammate he was. But Tenten had the annoying habit of simply tossing sharp objects at him in a never-ending stream. Dodging them all made him dizzy. And there was absolutely no way he was going to train with Gai _alone_. That man was _insane_. And he was so… sparkly._

_But this meant that Neji was (dare he say it?) bored._

_And so begins the start of the issues._

_The problem was being bored, is that you tend to wander wherever your feet want to take you, without really noticing where you're going. In Neji's case, his feet led him to the marketplace. Another problem with being bored, is that really random things attract your attention. Apparently, a side effect of boredom is ADD. Lucky Neji. The first thing to drag Neji in was shiny. Very shiny. Jewelry, actually. Lots and lots of shiny jewelry on display in a shop window._

I wonder if Ino would like something,_ he wondered to himself as he slowly let his eyes wander over the display case. _Bracelets and necklaces are too cumbersome in battle. And the only earrings she ever wears are Team 10's matching set. Maybe a ring though…

_Only then did the Hyuuga prodigy realize what he was staring at. Rings._ Wedding_ rings. His eyes widened. Wed. Ding. Rings. He took a step back…_

… _Right into someone's chest._

"_What's up, Neji?" Neji twitched. He knew that voice… "Whatcha lookin' at?" That irritating, mischievous, "Ooohhh… wedding rings!" … supremely arrogant… "Are you gonna pop the question?" … childish voice!_

"_Naruto…" He growled out. When Neji refocused his eyes on the glass in front of him, he saw the Hokage grin cheekily at him and throw and arm around his shoulder._

"_What's up, Neji?!"_

_Neji glanced at the rings one more time and shook his head. "Nothing," he muttered and shook the arm off his shoulders, beginning to walk away._

"_You're not gonna get one?"_

_He paused, but didn't turn around. "Why would you think that?"_

_Neji couldn't see him, but he could feel Naruto shrug. "You were lookin' at them pretty hard. And," Naruto continued when Neji took another step forward. "Into isn't gonna want to date you forever." He waited until Neji turned around, one eyebrow arched n question. "You love her." It wasn't a question._

"_I… yes."_

"_And she loves you."_

"_I think so."_

_Naruto shook his head. "She _does_. I can tell, Neji. You guys love each other." He grinned widely. "Next step is to get hitched, like me and Hinata did. And Fuzzy-Eyebrows and Sakura-chan are probably gonna do."_

"_Hn."_

"_Neji." The Hyuuga started at the seriousness in the normally over-exuberant blond man's voice. "I know you don't want to hear this, but if you really love her, and can imagine spending the rest of your life with her, you need to get a move on. I don't want to rush you, it's the last thing I want, actually, but… your uncle is another story. He was serious when he said he wanted you married." He noticed Neji's surprise and nodded. "Yes, I know about that, the Clan heads are required to tell me things concerning my jounin. But really Neji, don't make me order you to get married to keep your uncle's meddling nose out of this." The blond stepped up and pat Neji on the shoulder in a friendly sort of way. "Think about it." Then he left._

_Neji stood in the same spot for a long moment. Marry Ino? He couldn't lie, he _had_ thought about it before, but had thought it too soon to think about such things. But… maybe it wasn't. Some people dated for a long time because they were indecisive or because they were making sure they were the rights ones for each other. Neji loved Ino. And she loved him. What else was there to decide?_

_And the thought of being married to Ino was a pleasant one. And when he thought of her, belly rounded with his child, he couldn't stop the flutter of joy the image sent through his chest. He wanted that._

_He started walking again, but stopped just as quickly when he heard something crinkle in his pocket. Brow furrowed in confusion, he reached in and pulled out a sheet of paper, marked with Naruto's messy, scrawling writing._

Get the ring in the middle!

_The paper crumbled in his fist as he frowned. That son of a…_

_But his eyes strayed back to the window and lingered on the ring in the middle of the display. He pictured it on Ino's finger and his eyes softened. Shaking his head in amusement, he pocketed the crumbled ball of paper and walked into the shop, a tinkling bell signaling his arrival._

"_Excuse me, sir, but I'd like to buy a ring."_

* * *

Damn that Naruto and his conniving ways. Neji would have gotten around to asking her on his own time. Because that's what people did. They dated, they got married. He would have gotten around to it.

Oh man, but why did it have to be so soon? He couldn't take this kind of pressure. What if she thought it was too soon? What if she didn't want to marry him at all? What if the ring was the wrong size? What if she didn't like the ring at all? Oh man, oh man…

His hand ran through his hair again, messing up the normally immaculate locks and his quicksilver eyes flashed around, looking for his girlfriend. If he didn't find her soon, he was going to lose his bloody nerve!

* * *

"_Neji? What… uh… what can I go for you?"_

_Having worked up the courage on the long hike up to the Hokage's Tower, Neji answered, but his voice came up frustrated and high-pitched. "Help."_

_Cerulean eyes widened and Naruto dropped the pen he was holding. "Come again?"_

"_I… Ino… and the ring… and I…" He shut his mouth, looking more confused that Naruto had ever seen him._

_Shaking his head, Naruto let a slow smile stretch across his face. Poor Hyuuga Clan prodigy. Grew up training, training, training, and never learned anything useful. "Geez Neji, I helped with your anniversary and with picking out the ring and now with the proposal? If I'm not invited to the wedding, I'm gonna be really upset."_

"_You can come… if she says yes."_

_Naruto's eyes widened again. He was _nervous_! Smirking, he said, "She'll say yes, Neji. My wife talks to her a lot when Ino-chan is waiting for you at the Hyuuga complex. Hinata says she really loves you. Besides," his voice was mocking now, teasing, "who would say no to you?"_

* * *

_Naruto offered to help Neji plan everything out, explaining to him, in excessive detail, how he had proposed to Hinata. It involved flowers and moonlight and all of the mushy, romantic things that Neji wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with at such a nerve-wracking time. Hinata had been in love with Naruto since she was like, five. Why the hell would she have said no?!_

_It didn't take long to plan what he was going to do, since it involved nothing more than really asking her the question. The real problem had been making him _go ask it_._

"_Go, Neji!"_

"_I decline."_

"_Neji!"_

"_Hn."_

"_I order you, as the Hokage, order you to go and ask her!"_

"_I refuse."_

"_Go ask her!"_

"_No."_

_Almost screaming in aggravation, Naruto threw his hands up in the air. "That is it!" Getting up from where he was leaning against the corner of his desk, Naruto grabbed Neji roughly by the arm, yanked Neji to him and, before the Hyuuga really knew what was going on, hauled the prodigy over his shoulder and was marching out the door._

_Pale eyes widened in surprise and indignation. "Put me down!" He hissed. He couldn't hit him. He was the Hokage. His ANBU would attach Neji for sure and he didn't have time to deal with that right now. Beside… fox demon, hello? Neji couldn't beat him anyway. As proven per their first chounin exams. "Naruto, people can see us!"_

"_Then you should have listened!" Ignoring the minor struggling at his back (minor only because the Hyuuga _really_ didn't want to cause a scene) and not even flinching when he felt the chakra paths within Neji's reach being maliciously closed (why did he care, Kyuubi would heal 'em) Naruto marched out of his office. The wide smile on his face and the disgruntled jounin slung over his shoulder deterred anyone from asking what was going on. Besides, he was Naruto! Things like this happened a lot._

_Neji scowled darkly as the Hokage carted him from his office all the way to the marketplace like he was a sake of rice. The next time he spared with Naruto he was closing up the chakra path to his heart! He jerked in surprise when Naruto set him down suddenly and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing Neji to star into his face._

"_Listen to me, you idiot." Naruto shook his head when Neji frowned and opened his mouth to comment. "I know you don't care a lot for all that mushy crap, but listen up. You two love each other, there's no point in denying it. And you are going to get married eventually anyone. And as I consider you my friend, I want to see you happy. So you need to get your stuck-up Hyuuga ass hitched and make some Hyuuga babies pronto. Because it'll make you happy, not because I think it'll be funny to watch you take care of some brats._

"_But – "_

"_There is a reason," Naruto continued over him, "that Ino would tell you no. If I have to tell you that she loves you one more time to reassure your fragile ego than either she is not saying it enough or you are making excuses." He spun Neji around so he faced the marketplace and shoved him forward lightly. "Now go get yourself a wife."_

_And since he was busy trying to swallow the heart that was trying to tear its way through his chest, he didn't even turn to glare at Naruto as he walked away._

* * *

And as impassioned as the little speech had made him, the nerves that came with it had started to wear off. And if Ino didn't show up soon this entire day of embarrassment will have been for naught. Lovely.

"Hey, Neji!"

Turning when he heard his name, he saw Ino waving at him from a small café, where she sat with Chouji and Shikamaru. He shook his head when she called for him to join them, and gestured for her to come with him. She help up a finger, turned and said something to her teammates, and then was jogging over to him. Oh God…

"Hey, Neji," she said, kissing him on the cheek in greeting. "What's up?"

He just shook his head and motioned for her to follow him, sure that if he opened his mouth, he would only make a fool of himself. She shrugged and fell into step beside him.

After walking for a while in silence, Ino realized that they were coming up on the training ground. The one where all the major things in their relationship seemed to happen. Him asking her out, their fight, them confessing they loved each other. "Neji… nothing's wrong… is itt?"

She sounded so unsure, that Neji stopped suddenly and pulled her to him. Pressing his lips to hers in reassurance. For her or him, he wasn't sure. He kissed her for a while (kissing meant that he didn't have to talk and not talking meant that he didn't have to ask her anything) and sighed when she pulled back slightly.

"Neji… if nothing's wrong, then… why are we out here?"

He was quiet for a long time. "Will…" He fiddled with the box in his pocket and tried again. "I love you," he said firmly. He could say _that_ at least. He pressed a finger to her lips when she would have answered back. "And I… well, I can't imagine spending my life with anyone but you."

She looked like she was suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. "What… what are you saying?"

Taking a deep, deep breath to still the urge to run, he said. "What I'm trying to say is…" he pulled the small, black, velvet box out of his pocket and opened it. "What are you doing for the rest of your life?"

Into stared at Neji, then at the ring. Nestled in the box was the single most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen. It was simple and delicate and very breathtaking. The silver band was set with one diamond (the color of Neji's eyes) and flanked by two smaller sapphires (the color of _her_ eyes). "I… I don't know what to say…"

Neji felt his stomach drop. "Say yes," he whispered, taking the ring out of the box and sliding it onto the ring finger of her left hand. A perfect fit. "Please say yes…"

Ino stared at the ring and then up at him, eyes shining. He was so cute when he was nervous. Then she realized she hadn't answered yet. Marry Neji… she… She shook her head. What was her problem? She smiled. "Yes." She laughed. "Yes!"

A cry of joy escaped his lips before he could contain it, but he didn't really care. The empty ring box fell to the ground as he grabbed Ino by the waist, kissing her sweetly on the lips, before lifting her into the air and spinning her in circles while she laughed and laughed.

They were getting married!


	7. Chapter 07 Last Chance

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 3,088  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account. – Flashbacks in italics

* * *

_This is ridiculous_, Neji reasoned to himself, staring stubbornly at the back of the blond head in front of him. _I cannot believe I got coerced into this debacle._

* * *

"_No."_

"_Come on, Neji, everybody does it! You _have_ to."_

_A small frown filled his face as he stared at the hyperactive blond in front of him. "No, I do not, Naruto."_

"Come on_. I did it."_

"_Yes, I am aware of that. I was there, if you can recall." For a moment, Neji's mind was filled with memories of too loud music and strong alcohol. Most everything after that is a fuzzy blur, right up until he remembered being doused in a bucket of ice-cold water courtesy of his girlfriend. It did nothing to help with his killer hangover. "I have no desire to repeat that event, and would prefer, in fact, to forget the entire thing."_

_But apparently "no" wasn't an answer Naruto was used to hearing. Once he set his mind to something, it was going to happen, whether his participants were willing or not. This character trait had only gotten worse when Tsunade had stepped down as Hokage and left the reins of Fire Country in the hands of someone with the attention span of a three year old snorting sugar and a newly developed sense of "I am the leader, obey me."_

_Neji planted his feet firmly apart when the Kyuubi-holder grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him out of his room. When Neji didn't move, Naruto gave a tug, and then arched a blond brow at the jounin. "Do I have to order you to do this?"_

_A frown. "You are aware, that if you order me to do this, it will be a mission." Naruto furrowed his brows. "I get paid for completing missions."_

_Cerulean eyes lit up in glee. "So if I pay you does that mean you'll come?"_

"_I suppose, but you can't just pay someone to – Hey!" He yelped when he found himself suddenly being dragged forward by his exuberant cousin-in-law. "Let me go!"_

"_Nope!" Naruto called over his shoulder, not slowing his pace in the slightest. "Consider this a C-rank mission. And if you get drunk enough to sing karaoke like you did last time I'll make it a B!"_

* * *

So here he was, being dragged through Konoha's main street at eleven o'clock at night by the Hokage, who was paying him to go to his own bachelor party. Fantastic.

* * *

Ino grinned at Sakura's reflection in the mirror. She was so excited, she could barely stand it! Spinning around, she grinned at the bubblegum-haired kunoichi sitting on the bed behind her. "How do I look?" She asked, giving a little twirl.

Sakura gave her friend an appraising glance, before grinning back at her. "You look great, Ino," she said, before standing up and striking a pose. "And me?"

"Super cute! It's a shame the boys can't see us!"

Sakura laughed as the two headed out of Ino's apartment. "That's the whole point. This is your last chance to have one big, giant, girls-night-out as a single woman! So you can do all the things you _can't_ do once you get hitched!"

Ino giggled. "Absolutely. I hope mine's as much fun as Hinata's. I was deaf for days after that party."

"Yeah, Kurenai-sensei did an awesome job."

"Well, anyway," Ino continued, as she locked the front door behind her, "I hope the boys exercise a _little_ more control than they did at Naruto's bachelor party. I don't think Neji had ever been drunk before. Ever. And Kiba woke up on the neighbor's doorstep for crying out loud. I'm surprised more of the village wasn't destroyed."

"Well, they kept Lee away from the hard liquor, so…"

Ino's eyes suddenly lit up in delight. "That's right! You're next Sakura! Pretty soon we'll have to plan your own bachelorette party!"

Sakura gave a tinkling laugh. "As long as Gai-sensei doesn't plan Lee's party, we'll be fine! Now come on," she ordered, grabbing Ino's hand and breaking into a jog. "Let's go party!"

* * *

Neji rolled his eyes as Kiba staggered over to him, slinging an arm around his shoulder, and leaning in closer than was necessary to talk to him. The music was loud, but Kiba didn't need to talk right up against his face like that. The alcohol on his breath made Neji crinkle his nose. "Come on man, you're not," he hiccupped, "having any fun sittin' over here by," another hiccup, "by yourself."

Neji arched a brow at the inebriated Inuzuka, and glanced at everyone else. "I think you all are having enough fun for the entirety of Fire Country."

Kiba laughed, like what Neji said had been incredibly funny, and maybe to a drunk person it was, before he teetered off to find something else to occupy his short-attention span with. Like more sake.

Neji cast a glance around the room Naruto had reserved for his bachelor party. Loud music was blaring from huge speakers in every corner, though almost everyone was too drunk to dance with any semblance of grace. Gai and Lee were in the middle of some heated argument that probably wouldn't have made sense even if they had been in their right minds. And Lee, God help them all, was downing a glass of something that Neji sincerely hoped was water, but somehow knew it wasn't. Kakashi had commandeered the stripper Neji had told Naruto under no uncertain terms not to get, and was gleefully watching her dance, the visible skin on his face growing redder by the second. Everyone else was just drunk. Even Shino was swaying unsteadily on his feet. And if you got close enough, you could hear him muttering to his bugs. Or maybe he was so drunk he was talking to himself. Who knew?

"Neji!"

The Hyuuga prodigy jumped when someone slammed their hands loudly on the counter next to him. He turned and stared into the drunkenly flushed face of their village's leader. "Come on, Neji!" He gestured to the bartender and when the man handed him a glass, Naruto shoved it into Neji's hand. "Drink, loosen up, have some fun!"

Neji sighed, rolled his eyes once more, and downed the glass.

* * *

Ino was having the time of her life. This was a brilliant idea! Instead of having one big, giant party, they had decided to go clubbing and hit all the clubs and bars in Konoha they could before they started to throw up or passed out. And this way Ino had a fantastic excuse not to get a stripper. Call her weird, but she just didn't like strange men stripping for her. Dancing with strangers, though, she could do that.

Twirling around so she was face-to-face with the person she was currently dancing with, she smiled at him, causing him to grin back. Cute! A dimple!

He glanced down, reading the sash across her chest reading 'Bride-to-Be' and raised a brow. "Bachelorette party?"

She nodded, still smiling and dancing to the loud music blaring from the club's speakers. "Buy me a drink to celebrate?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hit on a drunk, engaged woman."

"Didn't ask you to hit on me," she said, leading him to the bar, holding onto the people she passed since she was tipsy on her feet, "asked you to buy me a drink." Sitting at the bar gave her a change to clear her head for a moment. She was filled with alcohol and adrenaline, and her veins were buzzed and wired in excitement. She glanced over at her companion when he asked if her soon-to-be-husband would get mad at her for letting some guy buy her a drink.

She laughed. "Not doing anything wrong… uh… man whose name I've forgotten. Besides, he's at a bachelor party right now, and the last time he went to one of _those_ he had so much alcohol in his body he probably could have cried sake."

"Hey, Ino-chan!" Ino never got the chance to look up, before someone fell into her (intentionally or not) grabbing her around the shoulders for support. Out of the corner of her eye she could make out bright pink hair and grinned. Sakura was so wasted. "C'mon, we're gonna go to a bar across the street." She pushed herself into a standing position and tugged on Ino's arm. "_C'mon_."

Into shrugged at the guy who had bought her the drink she was currently chugging, before allowing herself to be pulled outside, where half the kunoichi in Konoha wandered haphazardly across the street and into the bar with the loud music blaring from it.

As soon as she stepped in the door, Ino paused. The small (very small) part of her brain that was still sober mentioned that they probably should have asked the boys what bar they were going to be in. Simultaneously, the very drunk part of her brain was screaming, "Hell yeah! I get to see Neji trashed!"

* * *

Neji lost count of how many drinks he was handed after about the twelfth one. But by then, even if he had wanted to count, he wouldn't have been able to. He was way past counting. He was amazed he could still stand. Or, he would have been amazed, if he was sober enough to think about it.

When the bar door clinked open, it was more because the tinkling bell attracted his drunk attention than his desire to know who had entered that made him turn his head. But he was glad he did when his brain made the connection with what his eyes were seeing.

Ino.

Dressed to go clubbing.

Hot.

Damn.

The slinky black dress she was wearing might as well have been painted on her for how tight it was. Halter-topped, backless, and ending maybe four inches before her hips (four inches _tops_), it was only made sexier by the diamond-shaped piece of fabric missing from between her breasts, giving tantalizing views of skin from her neck to her bellybutton every time she moved. She her spiky, four-inch heels made her already long legs seem like the started at her neck.

Mouth dry, he staggered off his barstool and to his unsteady feel, weaving his way over as the girls stood by the door and singled out the guys they were going to dance with.

By the time he made it to his fiancé, Sakura was leaning into Lee's chest giggling like a five-year-old at who-knows-what- while he babbled incoherently. And Hinata was half-supporting a madly-grinning Naruto as he told a story about something he swore had happened that night, but Neji couldn't seem to remember. It had something to do with the stripper and juggling and somehow ended up with stitches. But Neji didn't really care.

Ino glanced up at him coyly, and he felt like his legs were made of jelly. It could have been the whiskey shots, but he was fairly certain it was mostly the way Ino was looking up at him. Her hair teased into delicate waves and tousled like she had just rolled out of bed. Her glittering blue eyes surrounded by dark makeup, making them shine like blue starts. Her lips glistening, just begging for him to kiss them.

So he did.

When he pulled back, he was startled to realize that, somehow, Ino wound up pushed against the wall next to the door, and they were both panting harshly.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," Neji heard from behind him, he turned, slinging an arm around Ino's shoulder (half because he was dizzy and half because, well, she was his) and stared bleary-eyed at Naruto. "Hey," he said again. "Listen to me, have you met… hey! Listen! Have you met my wife before?" He said, tilting his head towards Hinata who was doing her best to hold her husband upright.

And since Hinata didn't drink much, she answered in a calm voice. "We've met before, dear," she said, without stuttering. After marrying Naruto, she had grown a backbone. She'd had to, if she ever wanted him to do things. Like work. She smiled at Ino, before nodding her head at her cousin. "Neji."

He blinked, trying to focus on her. "Hina… Hinata-sama," he said in greeting. "How… how are you?"

She smiled in amusement. "I'm sober," she told him with a straight face. "And you."

Neji's brain couldn't really wrap around the question at that point, so what he managed to say was, "I'm… un-sober." He turned his head when Ino started to laugh, catching his breath when she turned her sparkling eyes to him.

"C'mon!" She exclaimed. "Let's go dance!"

And because Neji was drunk out of his mind, he complied.

* * *

Five minutes later he was wondering why he had never danced with Ino before. It was like having sex, only you were in a room full of people, with all your clothes on. And, of course, no risk of getting pregnant.

His hands slid lower down her hips and he rested her forehead on her shoulder, which was ridiculously easy because of the heels she was wearing. Her arms slinked around his neck and she let her fingers train through his hair. He shivered and let his hands slid up over the bare skin of her back, loving how her skin felt beneath his battle-calloused fingers. He kissed the bare shoulder in front of him languidly, clearly not caring that they were slow dancing to a fast song, and shivered again when she spoke softly to him, her warm breath ghosting over the sensitive shell of his ear.

"Wanna do some body shots?"

* * *

"Ugh… Somebody turn off the sun…" Ino groaned, her arm flying up to cover her face.

When she heard someone groan from somewhere to her left, she slowly opened her eyes, hissing and blinking in the bright sunshine. Glancing around she realized she recognized where she was. It was the Hyuuga Clan Complex. How the hell did she get here? Another groan shifted her attention and she tried to turn so she could see who it was…

… and she wound up rolling right off the couch she had passed out on, landing on top of whoever had collapsed on the floor next to the couch with an 'oomph!' Groaning and trying to catch her breath, she opened her eyes again and stared for a moment, not comprehending what exactly she was looking at. "… Naruto?"

"Ow, my head," he muttered, before opening his eyes. "Ino?"

The two stared at each other for a minute, noses inches apart, too tired to move and too hung-over to care, until Ino felt someone gently help her back onto the couch. Looking up, she smiled gratefully as Hinata as she helped her sheepishly smiling husband up to sit beside her. "How'd I get here?" They asked at the same time. They glanced at each other and started to laugh, but just as quickly stopped. Laughing made the room spin. Spinning rooms made them both want to hurl.

Hinata shrugged, smiling at them. "You walked… sort of."

"… Where's Neji?" Ino asked, after a moment of contemplation.

"Ugh, here."

She glanced up as Neji walked slowly into the room, one hand trailing against the wall in case he got dizzy, the other pressed to his throbbing head. "I passed out in the bathroom," he admitted. The others would have laughed, but really had no room to chuckle, since Naruto had someone woken up on the floor, even though there was a perfectly good couch next to Ino's. And Ino would have asked him what he was doing in the bathroom on the floor, but she had spilled the content of her stomach into some gutter halfway here, so she knew why he was there. "I am never drinking again," he said.

"That's what you said after my bachelor party," Naruto told him, as Neji slid gracelessly into the empty space next to Ino. "What happened?" He directed at his wife, who was perched on the coffee table in front of them.

"You all decided you wished to come back here. Lee and Sakura were with us. Lee is passed out on the swing out front. I am fairly certain Sakura is with him."

Murmuring in acknowledgment, the three drunks slumped against the couch, content to just lean there until the three-year-olds banging on the drums inside their heads decided to shut the hell up. But all three glanced up when the door slid open and two people wandered unsteadily in.

Lee was cracking his back and making faces of discomfort, since clearly the wooden park-bench swing on the porch was an uncomfortable place to spend the night. And Sakura just looked horrendous. The clothes she had worn out looked like they had been hurriedly straightened and were wrinkled and dirty, her shoes dangling from one hand. And her hair was wild and filled with leaves.

Naruto leered at them. "Have a nice tumble, Sakura-chan?"

"No." She answered bluntly. "… I woke up in the bushes." There was silence before everyone but Sakura and Lee started to laugh, followed by moans of pain from the three on the couch, who immediately clutched at their heads.

"Never again," Neji muttered. "Never again."

Ino nudged his shoulder. "Come on Neji, it wasn't that bad, was it? After all, that was your last chance to have a night out with the guys."

"… until Lee gets married."

"Yes, well, it was your last time to get a stripper."

"I believe the purpose of that woman was to keep Kakashi-sensei occupied.

She pouted at him. "Fine then. That was your last chance to do a body shot off of me."

Neji smirked at that one. "I concede," he said. "There were some things about tonight I will not regret."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Now we get to have the wedding!"

Neji felt all the calm that alcohol gave him evaporate into thin air. _Oh God… The wedding? Already?_

Ino was still grinning beside him. "Only two weeks to go!"

_Oh God_…


	8. Chapter 08 Something Old, Something New

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 2,799  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

"Ino?... Ino!"

The blonde sat up suddenly, head colliding with Sakura who had been leaning over her in an attempt to wake her up. Placing a hand to her aching forehead, she groaned. "Ow," she mumbled, before rubbing at her eyes. She felt like she hadn't slept at all. "What's the big idea?"

Rubbing at her own forehead, Sakura answered, "Did you forget what today is, you idiot?" She waited, but after receiving no answer, decided to tell Ino herself. "The _wedding_," she said slowly, like she was speaking to a child.

For a moment, Ino was still, as she tried to register that tidbit of information. Then, her eyes widened and she shot out of bed like the bats of hell were after her, tossing the blanket off of her and shoving Sakura out of her way and onto the floor. As Ino ran frantically around the room, throwing clothing and shoes and makeup around like a blonde-haired tornado, Sakura watching from the floor. Until Ino rounded on her and yanked her up by the arm. "Get up! There's only," she glanced at the clock, "nine hours until the wedding! _Hurry up!_"

And laughing, Sakura followed. She couldn't really blame her for being frazzled. She'd probably be worse when she finally decided to marry Lee. As it was, Ino had kept Sakura up for half the night, with the standard bride-case of pre-wedding jitters. "What if this is a mistake?" "What if he doesn't like the dress?" "What if I trip?" "What if he decided not to get married?" "What if – " But by then it was about two in the morning and Sakura just gently knocked her unconscious. She wasn't a medical-nin for nothing.

She had to hand it to the girl for self-restraint thought. Ino had just finished moving all of her things out of her parent's house and into Neji's wing at the Hyuuga Clan Complex. But did she move in with him? Nooo. She said there were only a few days to the wedding and they might as well just wait until then. That, and she was honestly afraid her father would try to kill Neji if she moved in with him before they got hitched. So she'd been staying at Sakura's. The pink-haired kunoichi was her maid-of-honor, after all.

"Okay," Ino said, after they were both finally dressed. "First we have to go and meet everybody, then we're going out for lunch. Then hair, then makeup, then dressed. Then – "

"Then you get married!" Sakura chirped.

Ino paused from ticking things off her fingers and stared at Sakura like she was seeing her for the first time. Then, a wide grin plastered itself across her face. "Yeah… Hyuuga Ino…" At which point she giggled insanely and dragged Sakura out the door.

* * *

Neji did not want to go with them. He wanted to get married, yes (God, yes), but he did not want to _get ready_ for the wedding… with them. "Why are we here?" He asked bluntly of all the shinobi his age standing in the doorway. And yes, that included the Hokage.

"We're making sure you don't get cold feet!" Naruto chimed up, reaching over to ruffle Neji's hair before his hand was slapped away.

"I will not – "

Blue eyes rolled at him, "Yes, yes, we know. You _love_ Ino. Kissy-kissy. We got it. But! Isn't it so much more fun this way?"

Neji took a second to answer. "No." And then tried to slam to door in his grinning face.

The foot Naruto shoved in front and the door prevented him from doing that, and though it probably hurt like hell, the blond was still grinning. "Come on, oh cousin-in-law of mine. We're getting ready together and that's that. If you don't come along, I wouldn't give you a wedding present! Come one, what do ya – Ow!"

Neji peered over Naruto's shoulder to see what made the hyperactive shinobi cry out and start rubbing the back of his head, and was greeted by the softly frowning face of his cousin, who smiled when she glanced his way. "Neji-san," she greeted him.

He nodded in reply. "Hinata-sama." He grinned privately to himself when she began to scold Naruto quietly. No one could hear what she was saying, but the blond looked chastised and hung his head. Taking advantage of everyone's amusement at the expense of the Hokage, Neji slipped quietly back into his room and stared at the tux on his bed. The one he had been staring at for the past hour.

It's not that he was nervous about marrying Ino, it's that… why did it have to be in front of so many people? Couldn't they have… eloped or something? He had never been comfortable with showing his emotions in public, and here he had to go and perform an entire ceremony based on how he felt. He'd never make it. The rehearsal had been bad enough, but this was it, the deep breath before the plunge, now or never.

He took a deep breath. Let's do this.

* * *

Ino was staring at her reflection in the mirror, trying to calm the angry flock of butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach. She glanced up the reflection of the room behind her when she heard the door close softly behind someone. She grinned at the reflection of her parents before turning to face them. "How do I look?" She asked, giving a twirl.

Her dress looked like something out of one of Kakashi-sensei's period romance novels, like she had stepped right of the pages of a princess book. Pure, shimmering white, it was strapless and sleeveless and hugged her torso like a second skin, before flaring slightly out in gleaming waves at her hips; a short trail trailed behind her. Her hair, slightly longer than the shoulder-length it had been when she first barreled into Neji, was pulled away from her face and scattered with graceful curls. It showed off her simple earring and showed off her face to its fullest advantage. Dark eye makeup enhanced her blue eyes and a nude stain made her lips look natural and full.

And around her neck, the silver necklace Neji had given her on Valentine's Day.

Her mother swept her up in a hug, tears streaming from her face, while her father watched on in misty-eyed pride.

"Mom, you're going to get my dress wet," Ino complained half-heartedly. "And if you mess up your makeup I'm not taking any pictures with you."

Her mother sniffed and pulled back. "Of course, dear, I just wanted to see you one last time before the ceremony. The girls are all on their way, so you can make your way out as soon as you're ready." With one more tear-filled hug, her mother left and Ino turned her attention to her father.

"So dad," she said, before yelping when he picked her up and spun her around.

"My little girl's getting married!"

"Put me down!" As soon as her feet hit the ground, Ino spun and faced the mirror, checking her dress and her hair in the mirror. When the door clicked closed again, she glanced up and saw the four members of her bridal party walking over. No doubt they saw her father's antics, as they all ran over to her and started smoothing at her clothing and hair, and fussing over her like mother hens. Sakura shooting disapproving glances at Inoichi the entire time.

When they were done fussing with her, Ino took a step back and inspected them.

They were all in blue, but Ino had decided that bridesmaid dresses that were all the same were boring, so the cut and style of each dress was different. Sakura, her maid-of-honor, wore an ankle-length dress with a thin halter top. Her hair, now back to its original length from before the Chounin Exams, pulled into two low, curling ponytails. Hinata wore a knee-length gown that was the simplest of the three bridesmaids, but it suited her demeanor and looked adorable on her. Her long hair, grown over Naruto's three year training mission when they were twelve, was down and hung in waves around her shoulders. And Tenten worse a strapless dress, slightly higher than knee-length in the front, that showed off her killer legs. Her long hair was pulled to a stylishly low ponytail.

And the last member of her bridal party was Hanabi, her soon-to-be… well, somehow relative. Ino liked to keep it simple and refer to her and Hinata as her sisters. Since neither Neji nor Ino young enough to be a Flower Girl, they decided Hanabi would do it, but they just told her she was a bridesmaid who happened to be throwing flowers. They doubted the girl bought it, but since she got to walk down the aisle with Konohamaru (the Ring-Bearer) she didn't make a fuss. Her dress was slightly darker, and looked almost like a sundress. But she looked beautiful with her long, dark hair hanging around her face in ringlets. Konohamaru would be speechless.

Ino nodded like a general pleased with his troops. Everything seemed to be in order. Sometime old, something new. The necklace Neji gave her, the wedding dress. Something borrowed, something blue. The hair piece she had borrowed from her mother, and her bridesmaid dresses. "Alright girls," she tried to say seriously, but shortly afterwards broke into a huge grin. "Let's go get me a husband!" She squealed.

As the four girls in blue filed out of the room first, her father held of an arm to her, and Ino took it with a smile. "Don't start crying on me, dad," she told him seriously, as they made their way out of the room.

"Of course not, baby."

And then the wedding march was playing and they were walking down the aisle.

* * *

If Neji had thought asking her to marry him had been nerve-wracking, he clearly hadn't thought about this part. The moments between when the music started and Ino appeared were the longest moments of his life. He kept thinking to himself that Ino would come to her senses, and not show up, leave him here. Stupid wedding jitters, making him act like a nervous teenager.

Hanabi and Konohamaru came down the aisle, one tossing Sakura petals and one carrying the rings, or, at least carrying the ring Neji was giving Ino. One of the girls had the other one. The not-so-subtle glances the two fifteen year olds kept tossing at each other made Neji smile in amusement for a moment. Then came Sakura and Lee, Neji's best man, looking handsome in his black tux and white dress shirt. Sakura had even managed to make his hair not so shiny and it fell smoothly about his face. Neji doubted it would last long. Hinata and Chouji were next, followed by Tenten and Shikamaru.

Neji gulped. They were the last couple. That meant… then Ino can around the corner on her father's arm. Though, if he was being honest with himself, Neji didn't even notice her father, since he was too busy staring at the vision in white beside him. Ino looked like a goddess. She was… he didn't… wow…

He didn't remember her making the walk up the aisle. He didn't remember her father handing her to him or her father whispering "Take care of her," to him. The next thing he remembered, Ino's hands were in his and she was staring up at him with her blue, blue eyes and smiling at him so brilliantly that he felt like his heart would burst. He listened with half and ear as Naruto recited all the preamble, since the only thing he cared about was the "I do's" He said his lines without really thinking about them, still staring at Ino. Then it was her turn.

"I, Ino," she said, "do take thee Neji, as my husband." Her smile widened. "To have and hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse," Her eyes were damp. "For richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health." One crystalline tear fell from her eyes as she continued to smile at him brightly. "To love and to cherish, till death do us part."

And then Naruto, dressed in his ceremonial Hokage robes as rules dictated he wear when overseeing a wedding, grinned so widely, his eyes were mere slits. "But the power invested in my by these magical Hokage robes," he announced, twitched when Sakura tossed one of the flowers from her bouquet at him. "I now pronounce you, husband and wife." He grinned again. "You may now kiss the bride."

Amid the whooping cheers of their classmates and the tearful, hiccupping of their families (well, Ino's family), Neji wrapped his arms around her waist and, lifting her completely off the ground, slanted his mouth over hers.

* * *

The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur to him. He remembered walking out with his wife (his _wife_, he thrilled). There was a brief interlude before they were to be reintroduced as a married couple for the first time, which was spend making out around the corner. Carefully, of course, so as not to mess up Ino's dress or either of their hair-do's. He remembered entering the reception room, being pulled away from Ino by Lee and Naruto and Gai, as Ino was pulled in the other direction by Hinata and Sakura.

It wasn't until later, when he was he was led up to where she was speaking with Hinata by a death grip Naruto had on his wrist, who had been grinning nonstop for thirty minutes later, that he finally felt relaxed. When Naruto released his wrist and wrapped an arm around Hinata's waist, Neji immediately did to same to Ino, tucking her into his side, as he arched a brow at the blond. "I'm assuming you dragged me over here for a reason, yes?"

Glancing at his wife out of the corner of his eye, Naruto nodded. "We would like to give you our wedding gifts."

Ino lifted her head off of Neji's shoulder. "Gifts? Oh, you guys, you shouldn't have gotten us more than one thing."

"Nonsense," Hinata cut in. "Think of it this way. There is one gift from us," she gestured between herself and Naruto. "And one from the Hokage."

Ino sighed, knowing she would never win. "Alright," she agreed.

"Great." Hinata smiled. "The first gift is from both of us, but you won't be able to enjoy it for a few more months." At their confused looks, the couple exchanged knowing smiles, before Hinata elaborated. "We would like you to be the godparents to our first child."

Neji's eyes widened as he glanced between the two of them. "You're – "

He was cut off when Ino screamed in joy and leapt at Hinata, smothering her in hugs and kisses. "Oh my God, Hinata-chan! Oh!" The two girls did as excited girls were prone to do when there was no outlet for their joy and jumped up and down while holding each other's hands, smiling madly.

As the girls started speaking about things only women would understand, Naruto pulled Neji off to one side with a hand on his shoulder. The Hyuuga gave a questioning glance at the uncharacteristically serious blond.

"And here is the gift I give you as your Hokage." Naruto took a deep breath and gave Neji a small smile. "I have forbidden any Hyuuga curse seal be placed on any of your children."

For a moment, Neji didn't know what to say or do; he just stood there, staring dumbly at the man in front of him.

"Neji? Are you – ah!" Naruto was interrupted by Neji abruptly grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in for a swift hug, eyes tightly shut to force away the sting of sudden tears. "Thank-you," he whispered, low enough that only Naruto could hear him. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Why are you hugging Naruto?"

Pulling back at his wife's question, he shook his head. "I'll tell you later," he said softly, before leaning down to kiss her. Could his day get any better than this?

Someone cat-called in the background. "To the honeymoon!" Neji recognized Kiba's voice call out.

Rolling his eyes, his simultaneously grinned into the curve of his wife's shoulder. Oh yeah, there was that…


	9. Chapter 09 Positive

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 2,727  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

He was not crazy. He was absolutely positive about that. He was only twenty-three years old. People did not go crazy at twenty-three years old. Right?

Right.

Besides, he didn't have _time_ to wonder about the state of his mental health. He was much too busy. He had to complete enough missions to support his wife now, too. Of course, she completed her own missions, but he liked taking care of her. It made him feel… well, it made him feel something. And crazy wasn't it. Needed. Wanted. Like a husband, he supposed.

Huh.

Married for two years and he still couldn't stop the small smile the word 'husband' evoked in him. It still seemed surreal something.

But he digressed. (And not because he was crazy!) Besides the training, he and Ino had taken to babysitting his cousin's young bundle of energy. An adorable, dimpled girl they had named Yuri.

And this is where the question about his sanity stemmed from.

Normally, Ino was thrilled to watch the young girl. Hinata wasn't Neji's sister, so technically he supposed Yuri was some type of cousin to him. A second cousin, maybe. He didn't know. But to Ino's supreme delight, everyone called her Aunt Ino when they talked about her to the little girl. Ino liked being a godmother. But she _adored_ getting to be the 'cool aunt.' As opposed to Yuri's other aunt, Hanabi.

So to say Neji was shocked when Ino walked into their kitchen, took one look at Yuri, who was happily mashing her hands through what had once been applesauce, and turned around with a hand held to her mouth was an understatement. Ino was a shinobi, she had seen more horrific things than an infant's table manners. And for her to leave so abruptly like that was strange.

Yuri seemed to think so, too, as she stared up at her 'uncle' with wide cerulean eyes from beneath a mop of ebony hair with a questioning look on her food-filled face. Neji shrugged at her and began cleaning her off. "I have no idea, little one. Perhaps she is simply feeling ill."

He said it mostly to soothe the one-and-a-half-year old, who idolized Ino, since he knew his wife hadn't been ill that morning when he left for work. He cast a worried glance over his shoulder in the direction she had gone in. something was off with her, he was sure about that. And he wished that is was just her sudden illness that was making him think he was losing his mind. Because he knew that in a few hours she would be as right as rain and acting like she had never felt even remotely off. Only to be too sick to get out of bed a few days later. But Ino was acting strangely, too, and not just her come-and-go illness either.

"Come on, Yuri," he said, as he lifted the little girl into his arms. Carrying her to the living room, he sat her on the floor, handing her a few of the toys she had left strewn around. "Wait here for a moment, alright?" She giggled happily as he handed her a teddy bear, and was content to stay there as Neji went to check on Ino.

Knocking softly on the open door to the bathroom to let her know he was there, he took in the hunched over form of his wife as she bent over the toilet. Walking in, he pulled her hair back without saying anything and rubbed soothing circles on the back of her neck. "Feel better now, love?"

"No…"

He frowned down at her. "Maybe you should go to the hospital and see – "

"I don't need to go to the hospital. _God_, it's just a stomach flu, I'm not _dying_ or anything. Calm down."

"I am calm, Ino," he said, one brow arched in confusion as he watched her stand and rinse out her mouth. "Maybe Sakura – "

"Tch. She's the _last_ person I want to see. She'll just laugh in my face when I tell her I throw up over the stupidest things these days." She sighed. "I'll be fine, Neji."

He was silent for a moment. "I still think you should go to the hospital – "

"I'm not going to the hospital, okay?! Just let it go!"

"Why are you yelling at me?" He asked calmly as he stood slowly. "If I have done something to upset you – "

"No! I just – No. _No._ It's nothing… I mean… ugh!"

He watched in confusion as she slammed her hands on her counter and stared down at the water slowly spinning down the drain. "Ino?" He asked quietly, reaching out a hand to rest on her shoulder, only to stop when she shrugged it away.

"I think I'm gonna go lie down." He watched as she barely made it to the door before stopping. "On second thought, maybe I'll stay here," she said, turning back and crumbing in front of the toilet again, sides heaving.

"Ino! Are you – " He stopped from where he had sat down abruptly beside her, but she waved him off.

"Just to stomach flu. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I can take Yuri home later if you need me to stay."

"I told you I was fine, Neji! Just go – " Her sentence broke off as she coughed harshly.

"If you're sure," he said hesitantly, standing and heading for the door. He paused in the doorway, giving her one last concerned look, to which she waved him off. Sighing to himself, he left, walking back to his goddaughter and hoisting her into the air, before balancing her on his hip. She smiled at him happily when he told her he was bringing her back to mommy and daddy, dimples flashing in her chubby cheeks.

* * *

"Daddy!" Neji watched in amusement as Yuri flung herself out of his arms and leapt at her father, who caught her and spun her in circles.

Noticing his eldest cousin standing behind her husband, smiling softly, he walked over to stand beside her. "Being a father suits him."

Hinata smiled at him. "Sometimes I think he's more like an older brother than a father.

Neji snorted in amusement, before arching a brow at the sideways glance her cousin was sending him. "What?"

"Being a mother is fantastic," she said, letting her gaze linger on Naruto and Yuri for a second, "but I'd like to be an aunt someday, Neji."

To his credit, Neji managed to force away the embarrassed blush from his pale cheeks. "Yes, well…"

His cousin giggled prettily. "I think you'd make a good father, too. And Ino would be a great mother."

"Ino…" Neji said softly to himself, before turning to his cousin. "You are not busy at the moment, are you?" When she shook her head, he continued. "Would you mind going to check on Ino?"

"Of course, is she not feeling well?"

"She says it is a stomach fly, but it comes and goes so sporadically, I think it might be something else. I think it's starting to wear on her; she has not been in the best of moods lately."

"Sure I'll…"

Neji stared at her expectantly as she trailed off, eyes sliding over to her husband and daughter as they rolled around on the ground. "Cousin?"

"Hm?" She started back into the conversation with a jerk. "Oh, it's nothing, never mind. Perhaps you should go see Sakura, she might be able to give you something. But I'll check on her today."

He nodded. "That's a good idea. Thank-you." He glanced down at a gentle tug on his shirt.

"Aun'Ino s'kay?"

"Your aunt will be fine, little one," he said, leaning down to kiss Yuri on the forehead, before turning to leave.

"Hey, wait up!" Naruto ran up beside him. "I'll go with you, gotta get to work anyway," he explained.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Naruto blurted out. "So Ino's acting weird, huh?"

Neji sighed at the man who he had become so close to over the past few years. He had never had a brother, but he supposed this is what it would be like. "Besides her illness, yes. But I suppose it is partially my fault."

"How so?"

He shrugged as they made their way into the Hokage Tower. "I fear we do not spend much time together anymore. With both of our missions and babysitting Yuri – "

"You don't have to do that if you think it will help," the blond interrupted as they walked into his office.

"We like to, or, Ino did until the sight of baby food made her ill. But even without that, she's started working full-time for Ibiki-san on the top of her regular missions. Even if she wasn't sick, we wouldn't have much free-time to spend together."

"Hm," Naruto muttered as she sat behind his desk, eyes glazed over and faraway as he thought to himself. His eyes slid back into focus abruptly as he stared at Neji with keen interest. "She's ill, you said, and acting strangely?"

Neji nodded slowly. "Yes…" He froze when a leer spread across Naruto's face, his blue eyes sparkling like gemstones.

"Neji, my friend, I think I know what's wrong with your wife!"

* * *

"Ugh."

"Ino-chan?"

The blonde hunched over the porcelain toilet bowl glanced up at the soft voice coupled with the hesitant knock on the bathroom door. She made it halfway through Hinata's name before she was puking again. Though since she hadn't eaten more than an apple for lunch (the only thing she had been able to force herself to swallow) she was really only dry-heaving now. Which was _so_ much better.

All at once she felt cool, chakra-charged hands on her sides as Hinata did… _something_… that Ino was sure had to do with the girl's bloodline limit and the cramping muscles of Ino's stomach, and the pain receded. She sighed in relief. "Thank you, Hinata-chan," she said gratefully, as the girl helped her to her feet. Ino leaned against the counter, reaching for her toothbrush as Hinata flushed the toilet and closed the lid, sitting down gracefully and watching Ino brush her teeth. Ino was started when she realized the girl was staring at her intently through her Byukugan. "Is something wrong?"

"Hm?" Hinata jerked, started, and looked into Ino's expectant face. "Oh, no… well… when was the last time you sparred with my cousin?"

"Uh…" Well _that_ was certainly an odd question. "I don't know, we've both been really busy lately… Probably a few weeks, maybe a little over a month, why?"

Hinata hummed in thought, before not answering and instead asking another question. "And when was the last time you had your shinobi evaluations done?"

Ino frowned, her brow furrowed, now worried. "A few months ago… _why_?"

The blonde leaned away from the dark-haired girl at the positively megawatt smile she suddenly flashed, and had just enough time to give an undignified yelp as the girl launched herself at Ino.

* * *

_Can't be true_, Neji thought to himself. _No way, no _way_, it can be true._ The walk from the Hokage Tower to the Hyuuga complex was spent in a daze, his eyes unseeing as he feet walked their unerringly without him having to think about it. _I mean, I would have noticed, right?_ He scoffed to himself, earning a strange look from some bright-eyed genin he happened to be walking by. _Of _course_ I would have noticed, I mean… wouldn't I?_ He groaned to himself, holding back the childish urge to tear at his hair and scream in frustration. _Oh man… I can't… I don't know… What am I supposed to do?_

A soft giggle interrupted his inner monologue and his head whipped up, hair whipping around a pale face and too-wide eyes, only to see his cousin smiling at him like the cat that ate the canary.

"Hinata!" He cried, an undignified hoarseness to his voice, as he all-but bolted towards her. He stopped abruptly as she twirled out of his way.

"Nuh-uh," she said cheekily, waving a finger back and forth in front of his face (she clearly spent too much time with her husband). "Ino-chan is inside in the living room." Either not noticing or ignoring how Neji's face paled another shade, she turned and skipped (_skipped!_) back towards her own house, humming some upbeat tune the entire time.

Neji felt his breath leave him, a tightness in his chest that had nothing to do with being out of breath and everything to do with nerves. He breathed harshly for a moment, heart beating a little too fast, before he swallowed thickly and firmly (before he lost his nerve) marched up the three steps to his door and slid it open with enough force to startle his wife into standing.

"Neji…?" Her voice was shaky, but Neji didn't notice. He had activated his bloodline limit the moment he laid eyes on her and felt whatever small amount of air he had in his lungs whoosh out of his mouth in a strangled rush.

_Oh… my… _

He walked slowly towards her, eyes fixated on the portion of her stomach where his Byakugan could see the small, steady-thump of a heart that wasn't Ino's. His chest felt tight, and when he was standing in front of her, the hand that reached out to touch the air over that little heartbeat trembled so hard he could see it.

"Neji?" Ino asked again, and this time he looked at her, letting his bloodline trait fade.

_She was crying_, he realized, a small frown on his face, as the hand hovering over her stomach reached up to gently wipe at the tear-tracks on her cheek. "You're sad?" He asked, voice a whisper.

Those blue eyes filled again with a glistening sheen of tears, but the smile that lit her face was anything but sad. She shook her head softly, laughing as she tilted her head enough to kiss his wrist, right over the still too-fast beat of his pulse. "No, I just…" She laughed out loud then, startling Neji when she threw herself at him with an excited cry. "We're gonna have a baby!"

Neji laughed right along with her, hands automatically wrapping around her waist, and spinning her in excited circles, just like he had the day he had proposed. A baby! His eyes widened suddenly and he set Ino down on the couch so fast her head spun for a moment. "I'm sorry," he told her, bloodline trait eyes immediately scanning her up and down. "I shouldn't have done that, it probably isn't good for the baby. Maybe Sakura-chan can check for us. Or Tsunade-sama," he babbled frantically. "Yes, I'll go find Tsunade-sama." He was halfway turned around when Ino's hand wrapped around his wrist.

She was laughing at him softly. "I'm not made of glass, Neji," he told him. "I'm fine. I'm… better than fine." She tugged at his wrist insistently until he was sitting on his knees in front of her, eyes level with her stomach. His eyes were drawn away from her face again when she placed her hand on where their child was growing.

At that thought (their _child_, _their_ child) a goofy smile bloomed across his face and he leaned up so he could press his lips to her still smiling ones. "I love you," he said softly, one hand sliding from the couch, over the curve of her hip, to press against her stomach.

"I love you, too," she answered back, sighing in contentment as Neji curled against her knees, head resting in her lap like a great, big cat, and spread his long fingers our over her stomach, smiling like he was staring at an angel. The fingers of one of Ino's hands trailed through his hair, while the other came to rest atop his spine, and she knew her smile was just as idiotic as his.

A baby…


	10. Chapter 10 Child

**Title:** Crash  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing:** Neji x Ino [Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Hinata]  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.  
**Word Count:** 1,259  
**Warnings:** AR

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is not mine. Summary is a quote from the TV show _Heroes_.

**A/N:** Repost from my PLL account.

* * *

Hyuuga Neji. Jounin. Prodigy of his Clan. Age: 23. Current status: shaking in his ninja sandals.

"I am going to _kill_ him! When I get my hands around his neck I –" The screaming broke off with a gasp.

"Yes, Ino, fine. You can kill your husband later if you want." From his (safe) vantage point in the (far) corner of the room, Neji frowned at Sakura. "But right now I'm going to need you to breathe."

"But _he_ did this to me!" His wife wailed, sending her husband a positively livid glare and causing him to shrink farther back into his corner.

"It takes two to tango, Ino," Sakura answered back calmly, clearly not realizing that sitting so close to the volatile blonde was a danger to her life. Though this was kind of her job, so maybe she knew some kind of trick to pacify the deranged laboring shinobi. After all, Ino wasn't glaring at _Sakura_.

Ino snorted and opened her mouth to answer, but, unluckily for her, a contraction rippled across her stomach at the same time, and what she wound up doing was screaming.

Unable to listen to his wife in pain, Neji took a step forward, arm outstretched so he could comfort her. He was stopped when she grabbed something from the table next to her (a book) and hurled it at him. As the hardcover whizzed by his ear, Neji remembered why he'd been in the corner in the first place.

She screamed again, and, deciding it was worth the risk, stepped forward to gently pick up the hand he had fisted on the railing of the bed. Though maybe he shouldn't have, he realized, wincing as Ino help he hand so tightly he felt the bones creak. As he glanced towards her though, he knew it was worth every minute of it. Worth all the death threats, violent outbursts, and bone crushing. It was completely worth it.

She had kept him completely out-of-his-mind with worry for the entire pregnancy though.

First the morning sickness.

Then the cravings. Normal food one day. Ice cream and chocolate syrup. Miso soup. Jasmine tea. Then the more strange ones. Pickles and caramel. And for one horrifying week all she eaten was pork ramen. Naruto hadn't left their house and the grin hadn't ever left the Hokage's face.

And the mood swings. Did he think she was fat? What color should they paint the baby's room? Oh, he _did_ think she was fat! What the hell didn't he wash the dishes?! Should she cut her hair? And then the hours of sobbing because she couldn't see her feet.

When Ino had been eight months pregnant and her moon-swing dial had been stuck on "pissed" for five straight days he'd asked Sakura why Ino kept yelling.

"Because of the estrogen, Neji," Sakura had snapped, now one month pregnant herself. "Because of all the estrogen."

Add to all of that, the fact that Ino, his dear, sweat, independent Ino, was rather headstrong, and Neji was positive that he was working on giving himself a minor heart attack. Or an ulcer. Or both. Because Ino kept trying to act like she could do things herself. The day he'd come home and seen her standing on a chair in the kitchen, reaching for something on her tiptoes, he's lost five years of his life. She kept insisting she wasn't going to break. She was pregnant. Not porcelain. There was a difference. Yes, she could do light workouts until she was so many months along. Yes, she could still work at the flower shop and do easy low-class missions. Yes, she could go grocery shopping just fine on her own. And no, the laundry basket was not too heavy, dammit!

She seemed convinced. So did Sakura. ("Light exercise and staying active will make labor easier.") But Neji wasn't so sure. What did they know anyway? He could do all of those things for her. That's what he was here for.

And early this morning (about four hours ago if the clock in their room was anything go by) when Ino had jerked upright with a gasp, Neji had tumbled out of bed in shock. When he had popped his head over the side of the bed, hair everywhere, eyes unfocused, a questioning "hm?" on his lips, Ino had swung a pillow at his head in anger.

"Hospital," she groaned, the hand not holding the pillow curled over her stomach. "Now."

And he was instantly awake.

"Come on, Ino," Sakura encourage. "Just one more push, then you'll be done, alright?" Her answer was another scream as Ino hunched forward, almost breaking Neji's hand, as she held her breath and pushed and pushed and…

…and suddenly collapsed with relief as the loud wailing of an infant filled the room.

Neji was rendered slack jawed (and useless) as he caught his first glimpse of his child, as Sakura swept a cloth across their face, to clear their nose and eyes and remove the blood. A gentle squeeze on his hand and Neji looked over at Ino who, cheeks red, hair in shambles, covered in sweat, panting, crying and tired, smiled at him and looked more beautiful to him in that moment than she did on her wedding day. "Our baby," she whispered, eyes sliding to where Sakura was wrapping their child in a blanket. Leaning down, he brushed the hair away from her forehead.

"Ahem." Turning, Sakura was grinning at him from the opposite side of the bed. "Congratulations, you two. It's a boy."

A boy…

His mind was fuzzy as Ino released his hand and reached out to take the infant, holding him to her chest. Leaning down so he could rest his chin on her shoulder, arms around her, he looked down. A messy tuft of blond hair, platinum, almost blinding. Eyes a milky blue, a cross between Neji's white eyes and Ino's sapphire ones. Chubby cheeks. Tiny fingers. Tiny toes. Neji felt his heart leap into his throat and stay there and didn't feel the least bit embarrassed when he felt his eyes fill with tears. "Our son," he whispered, burying his face into the curve of his wife's shoulder and leaving a gentle, lingering kiss there. "I love you so much," he told her softly, honestly.

She leaned into him as well as she could from the bed. "I love you, too," she answered, smiling as she ran a finger down their child's cheek.

He smiled in wonder at the pair of them. His wife and his child. His son. His _family_. His smile widened. He couldn't wait to make it larger. And, he supposed, he'd have to thank his uncle for shoving him (almost literally) into them. He'd never be able to repay him for that.

"Neji… remember when I said we'd name our first son after your father?" He hm-ed into her hair as he kissed the side of her head. "I wasn't kidding."

Sitting up, he stared at her for a silent moment, before his gaze traveled down to the infant yawning up at them. "Hyuuga Hizashi," he murmured, reaching out to run trembling fingers through his son's hair. He smiled. "Welcome to the family."


End file.
